October 22, 2018WorldComments Off on Russia: FYROM parliament vote “rigged” by the U.S. “with threats, bribes and…”701 Views

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the vote in FYROM parliament vote to approve a proposed change to the country’s name, was “rigged” by the U.S. with “blackmail, threats and bribes,” international media report Monday afternoon.

In a statement Monday, the ministry accused the U.S. of orchestrating an “unfair vote” through a combination of “blackmail, threats and vote-buying.”

“We view what happened as an open violation of all norms, both from a legal and moral point of view. Such dirty manipulations cannot be regarded as an expression of parliamentarians’ will,” it added.

It said that eight votes needed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional changes had been secured “through blackmail, and threatening and bribing opposition deputies.”

The Russian foreign Ministry added “it should be noted that the US Ambassador in Skopje was in the Palriament building until the session concluded and there is no doubt he orchestrated the whole procedure.”

Russia will continue to recognize with its constitutional name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.”

On Friday, the parliament in FYROM approved a proposal to change the country’s name, bringing a decades-old dispute with Greece one step closer to being resolved, a move that could unblock its bid to join NATO, something Moscow opposes.

In the same sense, supporters of the Prespes Agreement had blamed Moscow for bribes ahead of the Referendum in September.